The present invention relates generally to automotive body closure panels, such as doors, and more particularly to constructional features of such panels or doors utilized to cooperate with sealing elements for effecting weathertight seals between the doors and adjacent portions of the automotive vehicle body.
It has been customary in the automotive industry to mount the weatherseals for automotive vehicle doors on the vehicle body structure itself in peripherally surrounding relationship with respect to the aperture closed by the door. In some instances, this results in an aesthetically unpleasing appearance resulting from the placement of the usually-black weatherseal against a clean painted body. Functional problems relating to wind noise and the effecting of a close seal against the facing surface of the door are also noticed in some instances.
The mounting of the weatherseal member on the door as opposed to the vehicle body has been proposed as a solution to these problems. Weatherseals have been mounted to the doors through agency of adhesives or mechanical fasteners, such as clips and the like, applied to the door to retain the weatherseal. The handling of such adhesives and fasteners in the assembly plant is a time-consuming and laborious task making weatherseal positioning on vehicle doors disadvantageous.